Alcohol & Tiredness

Hinzugefügt: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]Okay, here we are again. Welcome back everybody. This is the week with booze brothers, which is a podcast where we try to have honest no fluff conversations about our various experiences of quitting alcohol and with me as always is my brother Matt.

[00:00:16]Hello Matt.

[00:00:18]Good morning Mark. Good morning everybody. We are back and despite this podcast being about you know, hard hitting topic quite often often we you know, some soul searching and and difficult things we we speak about. We are in a wonderful mood today and this week. I will not steal the thunder from Mark, but I will let you can see the smile on his face. He may want to mention why we are in such a good mood, but hopefully we will shine through in this podcast today with some positive thoughts and and everything we do. So I'll hand over to Mark and Yeah, it's yes. Well, in case you I won't I won't keep anybody in suspense. You might you might as well have guessed it. So if you haven't guessed it, so Matt and I are both um big football fans, big soccer fans, if you're from listening somewhere else in the world and in the US particularly.

[00:01:15]But our team Arsenal won the Premier League this this week.

[00:01:20]I'm waiting for 22 years. So we're long suffering. Anybody who follows sports will have some empathy with that even if you follow another team.

[00:01:28]You'll have some understanding of of what that feels like. So But interestingly that's a really lovely segue actually into the conversation that we wanted to have today because it's whilst it was great and wouldn't change it for the world and it's been a been a wonderful week to see to see it happen. Um I went to watch the last home match of the season on on Monday evening. Um Um they moved the game to a Monday night.

[00:02:02]And uh so it was an 8:00 kickoff, finished just after 10:00. But because it was the last game of the season, it was particularly busy. And the team afterwards do a sort of lap of appreciation, and there's a big celebration. And of course, there was hanging in the air this opportunity that that potentially we might win the uh win the title that year. Um I won't go into details cuz if you're not interested in football, you're probably think just get on with it, lads. Yeah, whatever. But we didn't actually win it on that night. We we won it the following day because um another team lost, which probably sounds weird if you don't follow football, but you know what I'm talking about if you do.

[00:02:35]And anyway, um the result of that was that um I was absolutely knackered this week. I had a really, really late night on Monday night because by the time I got home, it was well after midnight. And I was quite you know, I was get you if you've been to it, it's quite exciting.

[00:02:52]I was quite I was I couldn't sleep. I couldn't sleep that night. And I And I think I eventually managed to drift off around 4:00. The alarm went off at like 5:45.

[00:03:01]And I was I felt absolutely wiped out. And I felt so tired that the following day was a real challenge.

[00:03:13]It was a real issue for me. And it reminded me all of a sudden, I just got this sort of flashback to pretty much what every Monday morning used to feel like for me when I was drinking. I When you don't drink, one of the massive, massive upsides that I experienced and certainly Matt experienced and a lot of people do is the quality of your sleep. It's like nothing else. It's a quality of sleep that you've you'd entirely forgotten that you could ever ever have. And the reason for that is because if you drink alcohol, the body's never truly at rest.

[00:03:49]It's working throughout the night um to get rid of the toxins. You know, your organs are functioning. There's There's a whole bunch of stuff that's going on. And And if you've been drinking loads, then it's a disruptive night's sleep anyway.

[00:04:04]We've talked about that. So, one of the things that the body does is once it feels like it's sort of got rid of the or you know, once it's done its job of trying to cleanse your system, it fires up the adrenaline. So, if you've ever had that sort of 4:00 in the morning, wide awake, heart pounding, feeling anxiety after a big night of drinking, you know, there's a reason why all of that all of that happens. But, it really took me by surprise the quality of sleep. And it's something I still rejoice in. I still love it. I You know, the the And of course, what what that leads to is that the importance of sleep, of course, is well documented. We know that it's good for your mental health and your physical health.

[00:04:42]And I just wanted to have that conversation.

[00:04:46]I just wanted to talk about, you know, I think one of the reasons why alcohol is just such a [ __ ] horrendous thing to do is not only is it terrible for you, not only is it disruptive, not only does it lead to all kinds of mental and physical problems that are well documented, well known about, it [ __ ] your sleep up. And what happens to me when I don't sleep, and this might not be everybody's shared experience, but it's very very apparent for me, is when I get tired, I get brain fog, okay?

[00:05:15]It's like the synapses don't work. A lot of people can get, you know, do the thing where they go, "Oh, I got 2 hours sleep last night." And they seem entirely fine.

[00:05:22]They seem to function fine.

[00:05:25]That doesn't happen to me. It's like my brain is still asleep. And I And it's the most awful It's kind of terrifying, actually, in in public situations, in stressful situations, if you're at work, you're in a meeting, if you're having to think on your feet, it's it's beyond me.

[00:05:42]I just can't. And that used to lead, and still does if I don't sleep, but to a lesser extent, to things like heightened anxiety. You know, I would start to panic that I couldn't cope, and then I would start to avoid things. And I felt like that the day after this whole big Arsenal thing, you know, I I woke up in the football team that we support.

[00:06:07]It was just in and the memory just kind of came flooding back. And it's one of those [ __ ] hell, thank god I don't have to deal with this on a regular basis, cuz it wasn't that I was dealing with, you know, for me this week is once in a blue moon. You know, it happens once in a blue moon. When it happens it's not great. I felt knackered. I didn't want to do anything.

[00:06:25]I I didn't want to face the world. I felt tired. It definitely was low mood, it was low energy.

[00:06:31]But it happens once in a blue moon, of course. Whereas when you drink, it's almost a daily thing. You know, I think on average I would get one or two days a week where I would wake up feeling relatively normal. And I say relatively because it was the recovery from feeling [ __ ] So is that really normal? I don't know.

[00:06:54]Whereas when you quit, one of the incredible things is this quality of rest, quality of sleep, peace of mind.

[00:07:02]That leads to more energy.

[00:07:04]I'm a more optimistic person now because I don't drink, and it's linked to the tiredness.

[00:07:12]I have this heightened sense of what's possible, you know, what I can do.

[00:07:17]And the other thing is that I'm more comfortable because of all of that. I make my own rules now in life. You know, I don't I don't feel like I have to follow anybody else's prescribed way of living.

[00:07:29]I've I've figured out framework for how I'm going to live my life.

[00:07:34]And giving up alcohol and not feeling [ __ ] knackered and on my knees and totally compromised every day has allowed me to sort of puff my chest out, pull my shoulders back, and say, "I'm living life as I want to live it, and and I and I'm happy with it, and I've I've done enough work, I've done enough um soul-searching, I've done enough you know, sort of you can see I've I've considered what I I feel is right and wrong, and I'm good with it, and I know it's okay, and that's how I'm going to live, and it was just one of those moments, uh and it was I just felt this is a conversation to have because it's it's worth it, and uh of course the the it's mixed with the fact that uh it's been a great week anyway because of the celebrations, but uh anyway, I'll stop there, I'll hand over to you, Matt, and come back with some other thoughts, but yeah.

[00:08:27]No, you're absolutely right. It is a conversation to have, and it's one we actually offline have quite often because the difference is just incredible. Um so, I want to do two things, just share a few a few bits now, and then actually want to read a bit from my book cuz I talk about sleep in the book, and I thought, "Yeah, why not, you know, let's read a little passage from it." So, I I too, last night I was at a barbecue actually uh all day, in fact, it's uh my my old boss uh does it tries to do it every year, uh and um it's the same team that he hired, we're all very close, and we had a really great day. Weather's amazing here in France at the moment, uh we were outside, it was beautiful, and we had a a great time, but didn't get home till about uh midnight, and then we have um our uh cousin staying here, and uh he uh he was chatting to me, funnily enough, about about football. He's a a big Nice fan, but uh they're having a nightmare at the moment.

[00:09:26]Uh and um so, I didn't go to bed until about 1:30, which is, you know, pretty late for me at my age.

[00:09:33]And I woke up this morning about 7:30, and you know what? Felt fine. And went for a run pain-free, first time in a long time I've had a foot problem.

[00:09:44]And it made me think, you know, the big difference is is that yeah, you sometimes wake up and you feel really, really tired, but when you haven't been drinking, you can still face anything. Nothing's a challenge.

[00:09:59]Not like not like it was. Not that feeling of dying inside. I mean, some Mondays or just some days of work.

[00:10:08]I just I would go to work with the sole thing in my mind that was day will end.

[00:10:16]I I just got to get through it. It will end.

[00:10:20]We'll get to go home.

[00:10:22]And and that's all I need to do right now.

[00:10:25]But that fatigue would last for for days.

[00:10:29]And I think we lie to ourselves. It is a lot of [ __ ] out there.

[00:10:35]We have an sadly he's he's recently recently passed away, but he he had a very good life.

[00:10:43]He did like a nice cold glass of white wine.

[00:10:48]I remember I don't know why I was thinking of him this morning, but he he was a witty man. He used to send us things he he liked that Aussie Aussie man, that guy who does voice overs with an Australian accent on sort of videos of people where things are going wrong.

[00:11:06]But he would always say he was fine.

[00:11:09]Like he would he would drink socially drink, you know, a fair bit sometimes, and he would always be fine the next day. Always be fine. Fine. No, absolutely fine.

[00:11:22]I'm sure he wasn't fine most of the time, you know, but we all say it, don't we? No, no, I'm fine, you know. Yeah, yeah, a bit bit tired, or of a headache, but no, no, I'm all right. Yeah, no, it's good night. And And it's It's It's not true, is it? You're You're You're like Death Eater sometimes. And you know, I um I had I had cocaine problems as well at the time, and throwing that in there as well, it just It was a you know, pouring fuel on the fire. So, so tiredness and alcohol And I actually on on on chapter three of my book, so I'm going to plug it a bit, but Man Gets Sober, available on Amazon.

[00:12:03]I talk about observations, and my observations. So, when when I wrote this book, I really I just It was COVID, and I I I you know, I'd been like a year sober, and I just felt I wanted to get everything out of my head about what happened, you know, this this thing that had happened to me where I'd I'd made this decision to get sober, partly because of a rock bottom moment, but it'd been building up for so many years. And one thing I really wanted to share was my observations. Like, what the [ __ ] happens when you when you get sober? Or what What are those big things you notice? And one of the things it was was sleep. So, uh entitled Kip, which is the slang word for sleep here in the in the UK.

[00:12:43]Um So, here we go. So, um not long ago, I attended an hour-long lunch and learn session at work. There was no lunch, and to be honest, I didn't learn much. But, the topic was of interest to me.

[00:12:56]Sleep, the key element well-being.

[00:13:00]It was basically a hippy bollocks workshop about 24-hour cycles, the roles of melatonin, tryptophan, look it up, the pineal gland, no, it's not your [ __ ] not eating meat at night, and the theory that shredded carrots can apparently help you sleep. Go figure.

[00:13:18]However, at no point did they discuss the effects of alcohol on sleep.

[00:13:25]Let me make this clear.

[00:13:27]Alcohol [ __ ] with your sleep big time.

[00:13:31]It's the side effect that all drinkers ignore or seem to dismiss as unimportant.

[00:13:36]I'm not talking about when you've had a few or a lot and you fall very quickly into a deep sleep.

[00:13:42]But that 4:00 a.m. period when it wakes you up.

[00:13:45]I can tell you this for a fact, since stopping drinking, I sleep like a king.

[00:13:51]The difference is incredible.

[00:13:53]I cannot emphasize how much of a difference it has made. The reality is that even a couple of glasses of wine can affect your sommeil.

[00:14:02]Fancy French word for sleep.

[00:14:05]Be honest, if you drink, how many times have you woken up in the night and started worrying about [ __ ] money, relationships, work problems? You go to bed tired, wake up tired, and fumble through the day like a zombie can.

[00:14:19]When I was drinking, I forgot what real sleep was. I really did. I thought I'd had a good night's sleep, but hadn't.

[00:14:27]Here's the sciencey bit to why.

[00:14:29]There is no doubt that drinking booze often reduces the time it takes to fall asleep. It is, after all, ethanol or C2H6O.

[00:14:39]For those of you who are unaware, ethanol or alcohol is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid with a slight odor.

[00:14:46]It is a known psychoactive substance, recreational drug, and the active ingredient in alcoholic drinks. Boom, I'll have some of that then.

[00:14:57]So, I move on.

[00:14:59]And I talk about what it does. So, here's where it all goes tits up.

[00:15:05]Once you've done some drinking and gone to bed, your body concentrates on getting rid of all the booze.

[00:15:11]Alcohol is a diuretic. It makes you pee a lot.

[00:15:15]And as your body starts cracking through whatever you've tipped down your gullet, it has to work super hard to metabolize it. This has three effects.

[00:15:25]Firstly, you wake up desperate for a piss, or you don't wake up and pee on your girlfriend. True story. But, this was no golden golden shower. And yes, before you ask, I slept in the wet patch.

[00:15:38]In short, your metabolism has created a ton of urine, and you need to get rid of it.

[00:15:44]Secondly, your body is as dry as a camel's [ __ ] Due to the diuretic delights of booze, you tend to urinate a huge amount and are then presented with a hangover. A hangover is essentially dehydration, your body screaming out for fluids.

[00:16:01]Finally, and this one's the real [ __ ] there's what is commonly termed as the rebound effect. Your body is so [ __ ] delighted that it's dealt with the depressant effect of alcohol that it gives you a little boost of adrenaline, which wakes you up. Right, you can't I'm done with sorting this [ __ ] out you've put me in. Now you can wake up and have a good old [ __ ] worry about everything. Hello, anxiety.

[00:16:26]This adrenaline can also create a scary racing heartbeat. I can remember occasions when I've woken up with my ticker going ten to the dozen. It felt like it was going to explode out of my chest.

[00:16:38]Be honest, how many of you have woken up with these symptoms? Heart thumping away, desperately needing a wee, but can't be [ __ ] to get out of bed, and wishing you had water, the total, the whole kitten caboodle.

[00:16:51]Then, to top it off, you start [ __ ] yourself about tomorrow's PowerPoint slides that you probably should have finished before you left the office, but you decided to go out and get smashed instead. Now it's 4:00 a.m. and you're awake, and you're [ __ ] consumed with worry, panic, and yet more worry.

[00:17:09]And I'll stop there.

[00:17:10]Yeah. But, there you go. I just wanted to emphasize that, you know, it's something that was a massive game changer for me personally when I stopped drinking that it was so much more than sleep. It was how I face the world.

[00:17:26]Uh so yeah, wanted to share and and there's more there's more to that in the book. So feel free to pick it up.

[00:17:33]>> That was excellent. That was brilliant.

[00:17:35]It was visceral for me and I'm sure for loads of people listening to this. We've all been there. We've all had it. And it's an interesting one as well actually because the weather in the UK is absolutely fantastic as well. It's it's suddenly summer's just sort of launched into life and um I was at the gym yesterday morning, Saturday morning quite quite early and uh it was interesting. I followed two or three women into the gym. They had their yoga uh mats with them. They were obviously doing a class and I was interesting listening to their conversation because they were all bemoaning the fact they drank too much rosé in the garden last night. Um very home counties conversation that was. Um and uh they were moaning about it and they're saying, "Oh, I just you know, cuz it was such a lovely evening and we sat in the garden and you know, I just too many and I now of course getting up and now I feel, you know, and I I know that feeling and I and I also know that this time of year can be quite a tough challenge for you for for those who are new to sobriety or or haven't started, you know, the sun comes out. It just feels like drinking weather, doesn't it? It feels like this is the time to go out and and have a few. But what I also remembered was I was doing it and and I met my wife after I'd been to the gym. We went and had breakfast together and uh as we were having it it was a it was a really lovely morning cuz it was the sun was out. They have this thing called um a a park runs in in the UK which is a really nice initiative that's a national initiative and in all the parks throughout England on a Saturday morning there's a voluntarily organized 5K run.

[00:19:09]You can do 3K I think. You can walk it.

[00:19:11]And loads of people turn up and it's a really nice thing.

[00:19:14]And it was just one of those lovely mornings, and I was talking to my wife about this girl. I was saying, you know, reminded me of how difficult it is when the sun comes out. And she made a good point, which we've talked about on this podcast as well. And she said, "Yeah." She said, "That is true." She said, "But imagine if that was us last night. Imagine if we'd have just gone and sat in the garden and started drinking. Number one, you probably would have been up You probably would have been would have been up till after midnight. Number two, we wouldn't be sat here having breakfast right now. You wouldn't have seen the park run. You wouldn't have seen the morning. And she's absolutely right. I would have used that as an excuse to just, you know, pile in. And And for For what we've discussed before, for that sort of maybe 40 minutes of enjoyable drinking, you get days of suffering. And the sleep thing is is is just a really, really big one. Um And when you are tired, and you are hungover, when you've got all of those symptoms that you described in your book, Matt, you want to push the world away. You want to push the world away.

[00:20:11]You don't want to deal with the world, right?

[00:20:13]My experience of sobriety is that it forces you to sit with yourself, be comfortable with who you are, figure out you know, if there are challenges there, doing it sober is better.

[00:20:27]Getting through that, doing the work, and suddenly the world just opens up.

[00:20:32]You know, it just opens up. I'm not fearful of it anymore. I don't worry about it. I I'm I'm looking forward to it. There's so much excitement out there. There's so much to do, and there's so much energy and clear thinking and clarity of thought. And that all comes from not drinking, and it's related to the sleep thing. So, right. Anyway, better stop there. I I fully intended this to be like a 10-minute conversation, and it's like a 20-minute conversation. So, It never is.

[00:20:55]Yeah. No. We'll leave it there. Um unless there's anything else, Matt, you wanted to say? Is there anything else to to add?

[00:21:02]No, all good. All good. Just as we always ask, please give us a thumbs up.

[00:21:07]subscribe if you haven't, if you like what you see.

[00:21:10]We do this because it's great for us as brothers because we've shared the same, you know, the same experience in life uh and we we want to share it with you, folks, so please, you know, feel free to share.

[00:21:26]Uh and leave us comments. What are your thoughts? What's been your experience of sleep? Has it made a massive difference?

[00:21:31]I know some people, for example, who it kind of was the other way around.

[00:21:36]They The first few months they really struggled with sleep, so be really interested to hear your views, too.

[00:21:42]Brilliant. Exactly. Cool. Okay, everyone. Uh as I always say, never quit quitting.

[00:21:48]It's goodbye from me.

[00:21:51]And it's goodbye from me.

[00:21:52]It's goodbye from him. Till the next time. Cheers. Bye for now.

[00:21:56]Bye-bye.